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[Joe]

what should you expect to spend (if you build it yourself) to play games like half-life2 and doom3 well?

any specific recommendations? videocards, ram, mobo, everything.

whats in your comp and how much did you spend?

it doesnt have to be TOP of the line but im expecting it to be really nice and play games like half-life2 without a hitch.

 

[Teknopathetic]

Right now I'm on a Athlon 1900+ (1.6ghz), 512mb DDR333, and a Radeon 9800 Pro.
My entire rig costed about 600 bucks (case, ram, video card, proc/mobo) 2 years ago, the 9800 Pro is a new addition.

From my observations, reading, assumptions, etc. both will run pretty well on this.

I'd suggest no less than a gig of ram, a fast processor, and at least a Radeon 9600.

 

[hgplayer1]

Im thinking of building a new PC myself and am planning on going with an Athlon 64 3000+, 512 MB RAM, Radeon 9800 Pro. Ill update to a gig of RAM not long after Ive got it built and running well. Im thinking that will keep me good for a few years.

 

[Warrior]

CPU:Athlon 64 3000+ $211 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-103-425&depa=1)
Graphics Card:RADEON 9800PRO $223 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-102-286&depa=1)
M/B: GIGABYTE GA-K8VNXP $169 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-128-202&depa=1)
HDD:Seagate 120GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive $91.00 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-148-017&depa=1)
RAM: Crucial 512MB DDR PC-3200 $89 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-146-541&depa=1)
DVD Burner:NEC 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive $85 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc....-152-021&depa=1)
Floppy: Sony MPF920 $10.99 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-103-109&depa=1)
Case: IN WIN Black $65 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc....-108-283&depa=1)

Total: 943.99

If you wanted to spend more you could get a 1GB of Ram and a Radeon X800 Pro.

Note: That these prices will change but at the moment this is how much the parts cost at newegg.com

 

[Teknopathetic]

It doesn't *really* cost much more to just get a full gig of ram, and it's really, really becoming the cut off point.

 

[Warrior]

It doesn't *really* cost much more to just get a full gig of ram, and it's really, really becoming the cut off point.

Well it depends on the brand, speed and configuration (One 1GB stick or two 512MB sticks.) of the ram...

If he wanted to get one stick of 1GB PC3200 Crucial ram it would cost $365.

But, if he wanted he could buy two sticks of Crucial 512MB DDR PC-3200 which would cost $178.

If you have the money sure get 1GB of ram but if you are playing games which don’t really need it 512MB will be fine.

 

[Teknopathetic]

"but if you are playing games which don’t really need it 512MB will be fine."



The thing is, though, he *is*

 

[Warrior]

"but if you are playing games which don’t really need it 512MB will be fine."



The thing is, though, he *is*

I have played the leaked versions of both games on 256MB and 512MB or ram and they ran fine.

So unless the final code of both games is very un-optimized from the leaked versions (Which I doubt.) 512MB of ram will be fine.

 

[Teknopathetic]

what do you consider fine?

I've played some games at 15fps and considered it "fine." I don't doubt that these 2 run well (I share similar experiences), but I doubt he'll just be playing those 2. He just said "upcoming." Why pay less when it's already considered the minimum (and really, REALLY not too good an idea for some games like UT2k4) for some games for the sake of frugality?

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

well since the latest 3d cards arnt that fast for pci X im prolly just gonna drop around 400 for a 3d card and wait a year or two for a totally new rig since im running an xp3000 and a gig of ram as it is

 

[Joe]

how about spending around 500 bucks? i know thats low and wont be that impressive but i want to at least get something thats real good for now and upgradable to something real nice when the time comes. im guessing i need good mobo and power supply recommendations. i can just get 512mb for now then upgrade later. and which 256mb videocard has the best value?

thanks for the help so far guys.

 

[Teknopathetic]

If you used some hand me downs from your current machine it's very possible (Read: Hard drive, CD-rom, sound card, etc.). You're not gonna get a 500 dollar machine with a 256mb card, though.

 

[Joe]

ok well i dont have any hand-me-downs so what do i need to get? id like to get the card now but i guess i could wait until hl2 releases. the main parts i need to get since ill be upgrading later is a mother board and power supply. anything else?

 

[Warrior]

what do you consider fine?

I've played some games at 15fps and considered it "fine." I don't doubt that these 2 run well (I share similar experiences), but I doubt he'll just be playing those 2. He just said "upcoming." Why pay less when it's already considered the minimum (and really, REALLY not too good an idea for some games like UT2k4) for some games for the sake of frugality?

Fine to me is an absolute minimum of 30FPS with high settings.

1GB of ram is great don't get me wrong but a lot of people still don't want to spend the extra money on it straight away and decided to upgrade the ram at a later date.

 

[Teknopathetic]

What machine do you have now? Or do you use a family PC?

 

[Joe]

its a family pc.

 

[Teknopathetic]

Do you want it functional now or are you just going to gradually get the pieces then biuld? In that case, wait until HL2 releases. Cheaper prices and what not.

 

[Joe]

id like it to be functional now. but depending on what is cheaper and by how much i might be able to wait.

 

[Teknopathetic]

If money's an issue and it's not for anything until Half-life 2, you're really better of just waiting the 3 months out.

 

[Joe]

its not just for hl2 but i just want something that will be able to play the game.

 

[Deg]

My advice is take it easy. People really overblow the need to upgrade a pc.

 

[Teknopathetic]

Well in that case...

I don't think 500 bucks is gonna cut it with nothing to recycle. Without being very, very restricted (and hence, not able to play HL2).

Save your coins for a bit.

Deg: He's not upgrading, he's building from scratch.

 

[Mrbob]

You want good value? Overclock that mobile I say!

Processor $87:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-439&depa=0

I got the 45 Watt version. Wish Newegg would have had the 35 Watt version when I bought mine two months ago! Oh well I still get 2.4 GHZ out of mine on air so I'm pretty content.

Mobo $64:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-144&depa=0

Heatsink/Fan w/ Arctic Silver 5 compound $34:

http://www.11cb.com/cgi-bin/miva?Me...reen=PROD&Product_Code=1089832&Category_Code=




HDD $91:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-148-017&depa=0

Video Card $205:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-131-238&depa=0

Ram $90 (With testing):

http://www.komusa.com/51ddrpc40sa.html

Just some suggestions. That all comes out to $571. You will still need a cd/dvd drive of sorts, floppy, case/power supply and windows xp. You can get a basic dvd/cd reader for like 30-40 bucks. Get a floppy drive, halfway decent case, and windows XP you will be all set.

500 dollars is gonna be tough to run half life 2 well. Maybe at 640 X 480 resolution! Don't skimp on the video card. If you want to play these new games well you really do need a 9800PRO or better.

 

[Joe]

would it be possible to buy parts to make a functional computer right now with $500 and also have it be expendable enough to upgrade to hl2 standards in the upcoming months?

like a real nice mobo, with a nice processor and videocard and just have the other parts be "decent".

 

[Teknopathetic]

"would it be possible to buy parts to make a functional computer right now with $500 and also have it be expendable enough to upgrade to hl2 standards in the upcoming months?"

Well a monitor and CPU/Mobo, would put you at around 350 by together. You'd still need RAM and a video card to be functional. You could waste 40-50 bucks on a really, really shitty video card and toss it when HL2 comes around, but that's just a waste of 40-50 bucks. Just have a little bit of patience.


"like a real nice mobo, with a nice processor and videocard and just have the other parts be "decent"."

You don't really want to skimp on cheap RAM (read: unreliable brands, and what not).


"You will still need a cd/dvd drive of sorts, floppy, case/power supply and windows xp"

And monitor and about what, 40 bucks total for a mouse/kb/NIC?

 

[Warrior]

Since you're building from scratch I agree with Tre that you would be better off saving up some more money then buying a new Setup.

I know that you really might want to buy a setup now but with $500 you really are going to have to cut corners and the end result maybe that you might not be completely happy with your brand new PC.